Photosynthesis
by KoreanKracker
Summary: Sasazuka may be older than the rest, but one special young woman will help him open up his eyes to the world around him. As he begins to fall in love with her, will he keep his feelings to himself or end up losing her before he could make his feelings be known? OcxSasazuka. Chapters are daily thoughts in his POV.
1. First thoughts

Most of the time she would only come to the department to see Jun. They have been friends since a young age so it was only natural for someone you`ve known for years to want to see you on the job. Although, Jun never really did much when he wasn`t pestering me.

With all of the free time on his hands, she was able to go and see him anytime she pleased. She was a very kind and sincere young woman, always bringing things like home made cupcakes and what not to the other officers. The atmosphere of the department became a bit more livelier when she would come along. And all she brought was her smile and a container full of food. Even Usui had become so fond of her, his mood would improve when she would come along.

Soon, she befriended most of the officers in no time, leaving just one out.


	2. Lost

I wasn`t really there. My time is usually occupied with other things.

Smoking... Reading... Walking... Thinking...

I wasn`t at the office mainly because I would be trying to find myself (and Jun isn`t someone a man my age would want to spend time with). Well, it wasn`t myself exactly. I just felt the need to wander. Searching for something I didn`t even know about. I just wanted to be alone; to look around and see things.

Just seeing if I could find the reason why I would feel so lost at times. The office was a hectic place when I wasn`t present, but I needed my time alone.  
I realize that going AWOL wasn`t the duty of an officer, so I don`t think returning to the PD would be a very grand idea.

But I needed to head back to the PD to pick up a few belongings (and leave for home).


	3. Kaiko Shimizu

When I walked through the halls of the PD, I could smell something oddly sweet tickling my nose. It smelt like a sweet shop almost. A rather odd odor to me whiffing in at the PD, but I didn`t pay much attention to it at the moment. No, my mind was running rampant, thinking of just what would happen when Usui got note that I had left the office once again. He`d most likely chew me out. The next time he calls me in, I don`t think I`ll like what`ll come out of that mouth of his. My mind was too preoccupied at the thought of my punishment that I totally had forgotten what and where I was walking towards. I was snapped out of my trance by a small bump. I felt something press up against me then it fell back. When I regained my focus I saw a woman, probably no older than Jun himself. But, her face looked rounder and she appeared to be about the age of Higuchi. She looked perturbed and eyed my suit. When I looked down, I saw pink frosting and sprinkles on my tie, jacket and pants. I made a slight face as I immediately felt perturbed at the situation. The young woman had collected her container and shot back up.

"I`m sooooo sorry! Please! Forgive me! This is entirely my fault! I should have been more careful!" she gasped.

Despite freaking out, her voice was quite soothing to my ears. I loosened my tie and took it off, examining the extent of the damage. I suppose it didn`t look that bad, I could always just wash the stain out. My attention then turned towards the woman who seemed to be more nervous than I was.

"Um It-

"Here! Let me take care of this! I-I have a cloth you can wash yourself with " she paused to scrutinize my face. "Oh, walking down the street in pink wouldn`t suit you well would it? Oh gosh "

"No I`m really

"This is really embarrassing! I won`t get in trouble with you, will I?"

I slowly shook my head. She mumbled and knelt over to pick up the cupcakes that had fallen. When I looked at my pants, I felt a bit disgusted. A color other than pink would`ve been just fine but I didn`t let it get to me. I eyed her as she was going thru a state of panic.  
She wasn`t wearing any kind of uniform, so I couldn`t say if she was in school or not. I`d be surprised if she wasn`t. She appeared to be very young.

"Tell me, what is your name?" I asked curiously. She had become startled by my voice and bowed. I felt the left side of my mouth curl up with interest.

"Shimizu, Kaiko! 20 years old! I-I come here almost everyday to see Jun Ishigaki and to give the officers sweets on behalf of their services. I have never seen you before! And upon out first meeting, I messed up your clothing! Please! I`m sorry, really sorry!" she blurted.

I made a face.

(K-Kaiko ? The name sure suits her )

"I-I didn`t interrogate you. I just asked for your name "

"Shimizu Kaiko. But please, call me Kaiko." She let out. I let out a soft sigh.

"I have another pair of clothes I can go get them. Don`t worry, it`s okay, Kaiko. You can leave now "

She nodded and let out a small smile.

"It won`t happen again! I swear!"

I nodded awkwardly and unbuttoned my jacket as I watched her leave. I went into my office and changed my clothes before heading home.


	4. The begining

The next day, I had heard a knock at my office door. When I looked up, I saw her. She looked quite frustrated and skipped up to my desk.

"Uh ." I let out.

She bowed.

"Remember me?" she asked. I slowly nodded.

"Please, I really can`t apologize enough So, I decided to make you this special pastry!" He voice was peppy. My face scrunched up in response.

"Th-Thanks ." I mumbled.

She pulled out a plastic container from hammer space pretty much. Its contents consisted of a soft donut shaped cake with pink icing and rainbow sprinkles.

She looked down at it.

"Sorry for the colors. I the only icing I have is pink and no one complained about the color so I never bothered to buy any other colors. If it displeases you, you don`t have to accept it! I-It`s totally fine with me!" she blurted. Her voice went from smooth to rough.

I shook my head.

"No, it`s fine..." I said. I slowly took the container out of her hands and placed it at the edge of my desk.

"I`ll eat it la...ter..." I trailed off. She was staring dead at me. I blinked but her gaze didn`t falter. She soon snapped back into reality.

"Oh, sorry ! Uhm, Jun told me about you. You `re pretty much his senpai. Man, I felt even worse after he told me. I really didn`t mean to bump into you like that. I should have covered up the container. How stupid of me for not thinking first. It`s just that everyone had

I placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down It wasn`t your fault. I just wasn`t paying attention. Don`t make such a big deal out of it. I can always wash my clothes "

She looked at me for a split second before her eyes darted towards the floor.

"S-Sorry " she mumbled.

I glanced at her. She seemed quite nervous and insecure.

"Kaiko " I muttered.


	5. Talkative

Ever since that day Kaiko began to pop into my office at random intervals throughout the day. When Jun was `busy` I guess she thought it was alright to bother me instead. I`m not a very talkative person, per say. Preferably, I`d rather keep my mouth shut than waste time talking to someone. Yet, for some reason I couldn`t push her away. I`d at the least had to give her some type of response.

"What`re you doing?"

"Work."

"Is it fun?"

"Sure."

One thing I liked about her was that she knew when to keep her lips sealed, unlike Jun. When she felt that I didn`t want to talk, she would sit at the couch. She`d just sit there; swinging her legs in the air and would look around aimlessly. I found it really awkward, so I ended up buying some magazines for her to read. I had learned that she was pretty enthusiastic about reading, so one day on my lunch break I had gone went and bought her a book I thought she might like. It was a fairy tail, something utterly childish, but she enjoyed those kinds of things apparently. Her reaction when I gave her the book left a warm feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Wow, is this really for me? Thanks a bunch, Sasazuka-sama!"

"Yeah."

"Do you like reading, Sasazuka-sama?"

"Sort of."

"It`s great isn`t it? It takes you to so many places and you can imagine lots of wonderful things!"

"Mhm."

"And no matter what you feel, be it sad or angry, books are always there to make you feel better. You become so immersed in the story you feel like you`re actually there."

"Is reading what you like doing most, Kaiko?"

"Well, not really. I mean, I love books but baking and making sweets are what I love best because it makes other people so happy!"

"The cake you gave me was delicious. I enjoyed it "

"See? That makes me happy!"

I smiled. Seeing her happy made me feel content and somewhat satisfied. Frankly, it was all quite weird, but I had to admit that she really did liven up the place. Having someone like her around was probably what I needed, to tell you the truth. Not only had the office become boring without her, but it felt very bitter. The sound of her voice and the conversations we would have were a perfect addition to this office. I did enjoy them, but sometimes she would talk about the most obscure and peculiar things. It did bother me, but I got used to it over time.

After all, as long as it was her speaking, I didn`t care about the subject.


	6. Obscure

Going to work, I had to look forward to seeing her, even if I wasn`t really feeling `it`. She herself wasn`t bad, but having both her and Jun in my office together at the same time was torture. Work simply could not have been done with all their jabbering.

Listening to nonsense like "What`s your favorite anime?" or "You heard about the newest Gundam model?" But, most of the time it sounded like "I slap sponge cakes on the wall all the time at home!"

Such preposterous gibberish...

It was even worse when one of them tried to drag me into their conversations. Things men like me don`t care for, kid stuff, but for some outlandish reason, at their age, these two still talked about it.

"You watch anime, Sasazuka-sama?" she asked me.

"No."

"Which one is your favorite type?"

"Whaaaat? I didn`t know Sasazuka-senpai watched anime!"

"Wow, I thought you were too old for that stuff."

"Jun! You can never be too old for anime!"

"I-I don`t... I just said-

"Do you like magical girl animes?"

"What?"

"Neither do I, they`re quite silly."

"...This conversation is quite silly..."

But when I would look over to see Kaiko, she seemed very vivacious and so dynamic, I forced myself to get comfortable with their topics.  
If she was happy talking about this I suppose I as well could feel happy.


	7. Jobless

Seeing her and talking to her became like an everyday thing to me. When I entered my office, she was already there waiting for me. It felt very weird, not only should she not be doing that, but I also never had anyone to wait for me. I mean, I was just going to work. There is really nothing exciting about it at all. Come to think of it, over these past few weeks I think she ended up spending more time here than anywhere else. I soon became a little curious about her personal life. During the day, most people have jobs to go to as I do. When I asked her about her job, she had told me she was fired from it. Whenever I questioned about her getting another one, she told me she wanted to live free for a while. I wondered how she was able to purchase her baking supplies when she has no source of income.

"Don`t worry about that." She would tell me. It was hard not to worry. Someone so young needed some sturdy financial structure: a bank account, a well paying job, and some security, knowing you`re going to be well taken care of with the coverage of insurance. Of course, I don`t think those things are very important to children. I could tell because when I would tell her things related to the above, she quickly lost all interest.

"You really shouldn`t worry about others so much, Sasazuka-sama. You don`t want to age ungracefully."

(_You`re the one to talk..._) I thought, remembering about how much she worried about the cupcakes on my clothes.

"Besides, I`m too young to be worrying about those things."

I gave her a puzzled look. She winked at me.

"It`s okay. I`m alright Sasazuka-sama."


	8. Sickness

After a about a month after our first encounter, my eyes (and not to mention stomach) got sick of seeing her. Whenever she would see me, she always had some type of sweet to give me. There were so many that I hadn`t had time to eat everything she gave me. Most of them were being kept in the fridge so they didn`t go bad. And whenever I felt like saying no to her, she would freak so in the end, the sweets kept piling up. They were absolutely delicious, but for the past 2 and a half weeks, all that was in my stomach was cake after cake, and it started catching up to me.

I couldn`t hide the fact that looking at the containers she would bring made me want to hurl. I also couldn`t afford to gain any weight, but I felt too sick to even walk away all of the calories.

I`d manage to reach my office in one piece and just sat very still at my desk. Calming my nerves and preparing myself for the next `treat` she had for me. And as I thought of her, right on cue, she waltzed right in and showed me her latest creation. Her smile was very bright and inviting but unfortunately it wasn`t enough to get me to forget about the cakes. No lie, I opened the window and emptied out what stayed in the pit of my stomach unwillingly.

"Oh my god! Are you okay? Are you sick? Wait, of course you are, you just-! Hold on a minute! I`ll go get you some water! All you`ve been eating were my cakes; I must have put something bad in them! I`m sorry! So sorry!"

"Freaking out isn`t making me feel any better, I hope you realize that "

I sat back down on my desk, but the woman would not let up. She forced me on the couch and placed a wet towel on my face.

"I-I feel better, really Don`t..."

"Hush! No you`re not! Don`t lie to me, it makes me feel bad!"

(Lie ?)

To be honest, the attention she was giving me felt recherche... Was this simple attention what I was looking for? Or was it something else? Was it because she was _paying attention_ to me or was it the fact that _she_ was paying attention to me. One thing was for sure: I stopped eating for what seemed like weeks.


	9. Am I jealous?

I was busy reading a report that Usui had given me. As punishment for my continuous abandonment of my post, he began to pile more and more cases and whatnot on my plate. I had just gotten over Kaiko`s sweets and now I must fill up my stomach again with all this paperwork.

I`ll never get a break I guess.

Midway through my paperwork, I paused and looked up. The office was very quiet today, a rather odd sight. Kaiko hadn`t come in yet. It occurred to me that she should have been here by now and yet her present was absent. For some reason, I slowly began to worry. A woman as ditzy as her looks like the kind to take her time... on whatever it is that she`s doing. I decided to give her a few minutes to show up before actually taking the silence in too deeply. When I had enough I sat up, but just as I did, guess who came barging in the door? Surprisingly empty-handed, too. I shook my head, sat down and recollected my papers. What a waste of time.

"Hey, Hey! Guess what?"

"Hm?"

"There`s this reaaaaaally tall guy outside! He`s with a small blond girl. She`s quite cute and has eaten all of my pastries!"

"Angry at her?"

"Well of course not, silly! She loves them so much she ate `em all. That`s great!"

"Ah "

I processed what she had just said.

"Oh, you just saw Yako and her assistant "

"Yako, as in that detective girl who eats a lot? Well, I should`ve thought of that! It was so obvious, I`m so dumb!"

"No, your not..."

"Hey, who is that tall guy she`s with. He really likes to beat her up."

"Uhm, Neuro I think."

"He`s handsome."

I stopped what I was doing and looked up at her.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, he`s tall and handsome. He has a deep voice and awesome eyes. Do you work with them, Sasazuka-sama?"

"Uh Sort of..."

I looked down at my desk. For some reason her words aroused mixed feelings within me. I couldn`t help but particularly feel a bit flustered. Why was I feeling that way? Neuro was the creepiest being I have met by far, yet I had the soft urge to hurt him. He was someone Kaiko liked, and I suddenly felt anomalistically menial compared to him because she did like him. What competition was there? I honestly could not say. Why was I suddenly so jealous of someone I could care less about? I was so rattled in my thoughts, I had forgotten that Kaiko was there. She had tilted her head and looked at me.

"Sasazuka-sama, what are you thinking about?"

" I don`t know." I slowly uttered.

(Why ? What is...? Why do I feel this way?)

I really couldn`t bother myself with this, there was so much work that had to be done! But the thought really didn`t want to leave my mind.

"You don`t look so good again, Sasazuka-sama. Are you okay? Was it something in my food? D: Please tell me you`re fine!"

I looked up at her. She looked very upset.

"No. I-I`m fine."

(Why do you always insist it was something in your food?)

She let out a sigh of relief. It looked like the way I acted seemed to have an affect on her. I didn`t want to upset her or make he worry again, so, I did what I did best: Tried forgetting about this and moved on.


	10. I guess so

Having her talk to and spend time with me made me feel really good. She was like a refreshing breeze of air I needed to inhale. Somewhat odd, but yet at the same time very special.

Seeing her became normal for me and so did her obscure conversations. I hate to admit it, but I would feel very inferior when she would spend more time with Jun instead of me. She became almost like a necessity in my life; I needed her. I needed to talk to her. To hear whatever kids thought was `cool` these days or to hear her talk about something peculiar. To hear what ingredients she puts in the cakes she made; whatever anime she was watching and anything random. Whatever the topic, I just wanted to hear her soft voice.

Her voice

It was so soothing and calm, even at times when she was most nervous. When I was in the worst of moods, just hearing her voice seemed to make everything all better. I`d forget what I was angry about and just listen to her talk. Her voice rarely faltered and it was always kept at such a smooth level. I had not once heard her yell in anger, and it was all in all, beautiful. She isn`t someone who deserved to be angry or upset anyhow. Though, I`m sure she was still alluring even if she were to get upset. I sometimes found myself just hearing her talk, and not acutally listening. I didn`t mean to, I`d love to have listened, but I`d get so lost in the conversation, I decided to enjoy her voice while it lasted.

But when she spoke about Neuro I would tune out. Yako was fine, but I didn`t want to hear about him. He wasn`t someone who caught my interest, but he apparently caught hers. And here was when I finally confirmed how jealous I was of him. I felt rather silly, but it was acutally true. I couldn`t believe it myself. I never felt jealous towards anyone or anything, I never had any reason to. Until now. Taking it into deep thought, I wondered...

Am I jealous because she is talking about _him_? Or is it because _she_ is talking about him?


	11. Im not that far behind

When I would look into her eyes, she seemed so vibrant and alive. Compared to me, she was the complete opposite. Always so happy and so talkative, I actually felt a bit envious. Of course, she was only 20. A lot of people should be happy at that age. Of course, I did feel sort of left out at times. Not only that, but all the things she`d tell me always made me remember how old I really am. I don`t get what new things young people like these days. And I honestly couldn`t care less about any of that, but if it was something Kaiko was interested in, I made sure to find something about it. I didn`t want to feel so left that I couldn`t keep up with her. And when I was able to hold a conversation, she would get the most puzzled expression on her face.

"How old are you, Sasazuka-sama?" she asked.

I felt my heart drop.

"Uh.."

"C`mon, you can tell me. I`ll keep it a secret."

The way she said it didn`t make me feel any better.

"Uhm, 30."

She smiled.

"You`re still pretty young. You only have ten years to go before you can call yourself old."

I simply nodded. She leaned forward onto my desk and placed her chin in the palm of her hand. She looked straight into my eyes. It seemed as if she was examining my features. I blinked and narrowed my eyes, growing a little queasy inside.

"What...?" I let out. After a few minutes she finally spoke.

"You know, you`re quite enchanting for a man your age. There`s something about you that gets me. I just can`t seem to put my tounge on it... Do you have a girlfriend?"

I blushed and looked away.

"Enchanting?" When I think of that word, I think of a fantasy fairy tale. Although, I`m sure that`s not how she meant is necessarily. When I looked back, her face was mearly inches away from mine. I pushed my chair back and stood up in panic.

"So?" she kept pushing it.

"No, No I don`t..."

She pouted, seemingly disappointed.

"Really? You`re such a nice person, I`m surprised..." she mumbled.

I shook my head slightly and backed away. Saying all those things at once catching me off guard like that... I saw her let out a large grin. I wonder if she was planning something. She leaned ever so slighty onto my desk.

"Hm, did I make you feel uncomfortable? -giggle- I`m sorry. I just had to ask. It was bothering me. :)" she said with a bubbly tone.

I sighed and loosened my tie. Way to get a man worked up.


	12. Realization

The next day when I returned to my office, I opened the door to see Kaiko already in there. The lights were still off, but there she was, waiting just as patiently as ever. She stood next to my office window, looking out at the town. I decided to lean up against my door and observe her. She had smiled to herself whilst leaning on the window sill. She brushed some hair behind her ear and sighed softly. As she gazed out, I took notice of her being. I saw how lovely her skin glowed in the sun light. I saw how brightly her hair shone and the many wonderful shades it held within it. I saw how her eyes glistened in the rays of the sun. I saw a lot things I never would have noticed before. She opened the window to let the cool air flow throughout the office. I shut my eyes for a second, embracing the much needed cool winds. When I opened my eyes, I saw her hair flow elegantly in the wind. I let out a small smile and tilted my head to scrutinize her even more.

I saw the way the sun rays hit her eyes and made them shine. They were a gorgeous shade of blue, about the same color as the sky. So clear and innocent... Even in a time of calming peace, they still shouted with the essence of youth and energetic times. As the wind got to her, I saw her fold her arms across her chest for warmth. This was when I noticed her petite stature. She really wasn`t very tall at all. Standing at what appeared to be 5`1, she was a tiny little thing. But she had the features of a mature young woman who knew what she wanted in life. I let out a quick sigh. Her small stature was very appealing to me.

Standing there made me think. Not only of her, but of myself as well. Most of the time I just looked at her, not paying attention to any of the little details. But now... now I`ve noticed a lot of things about her that I never had before. Looking her over once more, I realized something I should have realized the first day I met her.

She was... beautiful. 


	13. Stellar

"Kaiko..." I let out softly.

She whipped her head around and I saw how her face lite up at the sight of me. She ran up to me and squeezed my body against hers. I stood there in shock.  
She was hugging me? Why? All of a sudden out of the blue, too!

"Yaaay, Sasazuka-sama! I was wondering when you`d show up! I`ve been waiting for almost an hour."

My face contorted.

"A-an hour...?"

"Yeah, today you came in late. Is there something wrong?" She inquired while releasing her grip on me.

I shook my head and peered down to her face. She had this huge grin plastered over her precious face. My lips twitched with the urge to compliment her on her appearance. But I was too scared to speak. So I just merely shook my head 'no.' I walked briskly towards my desk and began to hit the paperwork. Kaiko followed quietly behind me and sat down on the couch. I glued my eyes towards my paper, trying to read the words in front of me but my mind wasn`t there to help me. The only thing I thought about was her, her and only her! I knew she was staring at me, I could feel her gaze on me. I sighed and lifted my head up to look at her. She squeaked and quickly turned her head. I bit my lip, but mustered up the courage to speak with her.

"K-Kaiko, would you like to grab a bite to eat?"

She seemed to explode with joy.

"Yes, of course! Yaaayy! I usually go out with Jun, but he`s getting boring now. I`m happy to finally go out with you!"

I placed my hand over my face to hide my now reddening features. I slowly nodded and gestured for her to follow me.

Looks like we`re getting breakfast.


	14. I love you

We sat down at the restaraunt and began over looking our menus. Well, she was at the least. My eyes kept straying from my menu back up to her. She was so pretty, I wanted to tell her. But I couldn`t. How creepy would that sound coming from an old man like me? If I was Jun`s age, I`d have given it a shot, but I wasn`t. Those days were long over for me.

Eventually I managed to concentrate on what I wanted to order. When I finally made my decision, our waiter had come by. She ordered first and then I. As he took away our menus, I looked over to see her gawking at me with a crooked smile. My stomach felt queasy again.

(_Now`s the time to tell her how pretty she is... **Do it**!_)

"You squint your left eye a lot, is there something wrong?" I blurted.

All of a sudden her joyful disposition was replaced with some more along the lines of despair. She had turned her head to hide her face. I`m such an idiot.

"I can`t belive it! You noticed? I`ve been trying to fix it! It`s soooo embarassing! Sasazuka-sama, don`t look at me!" She cried, litteraly. I could see her eyes well up.

(_But it`s cute... I like it. Tell her that _**now_!_**)

"It`s weird, why do you do that?" I questioned plainly.

(_Moron!_) I thought to myself with widened eyes.

Kaiko began to cry and hid her face behind her hands. I felt so bad, I began to curse at myself mentally. Why would I say that? To her of all people! She`s such a sensitive person, I couldn`t believe myself. The other customers began looking at us. I knew they must have had bad thoughts about me. What kind of man makes a woman cry? Honestly... Me I suppose. I began to panick and quickly got up from my seat and planted myself beside her. I was looking at her franitcally with a face of dismay. I had no idea know how to calm a crying woman.

What do I do?

With no ideas in my head, out of nowhere, I had wrapped my arms around her and held her close to my chest. She immediatly stopped crying and uncovered her face, revealing a face of shock. I shut my eyes and held her tighter. Her hair smelt really good, like strawberries. Such a sweet scent, just like her...

"Don`t cry anymore..." I whispered to her.

She remained silent the entire time. Our waiter had returned with our meals. I removed one hand to eat and the other was kept around her body. I caressed her hair ever so gently as she stayed close to me. When I finished I ended up picking up her utensils and started feeding her. I just did it without thought, I felt weird once I realized what I was doing. I placed the fork down and began to question myself. She finally moved and looked up at me. I could feel her gaze burn through my skin.

"Sasazuka-sama..." she let out. I nodded in response.

"You`re so kind..."

I looked down at her and let out a genuine smile. She smiled back and giggled. Suddenly my smile washed away and a serious look replaced my previous features. I looked at her and eyed her over and over again. I needed to confirm something with myself. At that moment, when our eyes met I had realized something.

...I loved her.


End file.
